Gail Porter
Born March 23, 1971 (1971-03-23) (age 36) Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Statistics Occupation TV presenter Other names Gail Hipgrave Gender Female Marital status divorced Family yes Children Honey Hipgrave (b. 2002) Ethnicity Scottish Notable credit(s) Presenter of Fully Booked and Top of the Pops, Host on The Movie Chart Show

Gail Porter (born March 23, 1971 at the Simpson's Memorial Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland), sometimes known by her married name Gail Hipgrave, is a British television presenter who became widely known after presenting Fully Booked in the late 1990s. Porter has tended to present family-friendly television programmes, or ones aimed directly at children, for example The Movie Chart Show, Top of the Pops, and Live & Kicking, work for CITV such as T.I.G.S (Totally Interactive Game Show), and other programmes such as The Big Breakfast and Gail Porter's Big 90s for VH1 . Recently she presented three series of Dead Famous. If you hold the copyright to an image (e. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... A television presenter is a British term for a celebrity who is best known for introducing or appearing in television programmes. ... For other uses, see Female (disambiguation). ... Fully Booked was a Saturday, then latterly Sunday, morning kids BBC TV celebrity magazine show broadcast in the Summer of 1995 to 1999. ... Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a long-running British music chart television programme, made and broadcast by the BBC. It was originally shown each week, mostly on BBC One, from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... A television presenter is a British term for a person who introduces or hosts television programmes. ... Fully Booked was a Saturday, then latterly Sunday, morning kids BBC TV celebrity magazine show broadcast in the Summer of 1995 to 1999. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a long-running British music chart television programme, made and broadcast by the BBC. It was originally shown each week, mostly on BBC One, from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. ... Live & Kicking Logo Live and Kicking was a BBC Saturday morning variety programme that was aimed at kids and included a mix of competitions, comedy, music and cartoons such as the Rugrats. ... This article is about ITVs childrens television brand. ... Lockkeepers Cottages, in Old Ford Lock, used as the studio for The Big Breakfast The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002. ... VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994) is an American cable television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently part of the MTV Networks division... Dead Famous is a television series that challenges the paranormal world of ghost busting. ...

In the late-'90s she began to pose for photos in men's magazines such as FHM and Loaded. She has appeared on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World list four times (1999–2002), ranking her highest in 1999 at number eight. In 2004 she was voted 59th sexiest woman of the decade. FHM or For Him Magazine is an international monthly lads mag. ... Loaded, first published by IPC in 1994, is a British monthly lads mag. Its motto is For men who should know better. // Loaded was founded by James Brown a former deputy editor of the music weekly New Musical Express. ... This is a list of the women who have been named in any one of FHM magazines annual polls (in either the UK or US edition), as voted for by their readership. ...

Probably the best-known product of her many photo-sessions is one particular still in which she is seen completely nude from behind, but turning her head back to make eye contact with the camera, thus permitting a simultaneous full view of her face, back and bottom, and a glimpse of one of her breasts from the side.

Porter projected onto Palace of Westminster in 1999.

The image earned its near-iconic status due to the events of one night in 1999, when FHM famously beamed an enormous projection of it onto the exterior of the Houses of Parliament, with an accompanying message urging people to "Vote Porter". This stunt coincided with a period of plummeting turnouts in British elections, with particular concern being expressed about a so-called "lost generation" of young people showing themselves to be less interested in serious political issues than in the allegedly vacuous currents of modern celebrity culture, of which the seemingly unquenchable craving to see someone like Gail Porter without her clothes on was offered as a prime example. There were thus suggestions by commentators that FHM's stunt had a deeply symbolic significance, with the world of escapist celebrity-fetish managing to appropriate the very seat of power to exalt its triumph. Other commentators responded by suggesting that the political class, rather than simply bemoaning developments, ought instead to see if it could learn any lessons from the evident inclination of so many to accept the invitation to "Vote Porter". In her autobiography, Porter claims that she did not know about the stunt until it was reported in the news the following day. Image File history File links Gail-porter-stunt-marketing. ... “Houses of Parliament” redirects here. ... “Houses of Parliament” redirects here. ...

In 2001, Porter took part in the Reality TV show Celebrity blind man's buff and in 2003, she was a contestant on Channel 4's The Games, although injury truncated her participation. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Reality television is a genre of television programming in which the fortunes of real life people (as opposed to fictional characters played by actors) are followed. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the British television station. ... The Games is a Channel 4 reality TV show, in which 10 celebrities compete against each other, by doing Olympic style events, such as weight lifting, gymnastics and diving. ...

She married Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave in August 2001, with whom she had a daughter, Honey, in 2002. The relationship has since broken down—they separated in the summer of 2004—and Porter has spoken publicly about her ensuing battles with stress, drugs and post-natal depression. In 2005 her conditions triggered alopecia, causing her to lose all of her body hair.^[1][2] She refused to wear a wig, deciding instead to maintain a public profile and raise awareness of the condition. On an appearance on the Richard & Judy show February 15, 2006 she showed that her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were beginning to grow back.^[3] Recently there were rumours that her hair loss had been deemed permanent, these are however untrue. She herself refuted these rumours on 12 April 2006 saying "It is possible that I'm going to get my hair back. My doctor just said not to get my hopes up",^[4] and she has since been spotted in public bearing evidence of renewed hair growth. ^[5] Toploader were a British rock band from Eastbourne, formed in 1997. ... Dan Hipgrave (born Daniel Hipgrave, August 5, 1975, in Brighton, England) was one of the guitarists with Toploader, a briefly popular British indie rock band. ... Alopecia areata is a form of hair loss from areas of the body, usually from the scalp. ... Richard & Judy is an afternoon magazine/talk-show in the UK presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. ... is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Porter's experience with alopecia was the subject of the BBC ONE life documentary Gail Porter Laid Bare on May 31, 2006 ^[6]. Alopecia areata is a form of hair loss from areas of the body, usually from the scalp. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Her autobiography, Laid Bare: My Story of Love, Fame and Survival, was published in September 2007.

Trivia

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• Porter once commented on her 30DD breast size to the media. "When I was pregnant they were huge and poor Dan was in fear of his life. He thought he'd die in bed. He was like: 'Don't roll over—please!.'"^[7]
• Porter is named in the lyrics of The Streets' song The Irony of It All: We just sit in this hazy bubble with our quarters / Discussing how beautiful Gail Porter is.
• Gail Porter has a 2nd dan^[8] black belt in karate^[9][10].
• Gail Porter worked in a B&Q hardware store prior to becoming famous.
• She appeared on Da Ali G Show.
• She replaced Melanie Sykes as co-presenter of radio artist weekly chart show "The A List" at the end of 2006.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Brassiere A brassiere or bra is a foundation garment for women consisting of shoulder straps, two cups, a center panel, an underbust band, sides, and a back. ... Mike Skinner (born November 27, 1978), more commonly known by his stage name The Streets, is a rapper from Birmingham, England. ... The Irony of It All is a song by The Streets. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Shotokan-ryu ) is a school of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Yoshitaka Funakoshi (1906–1945). ... B&Q is a British retailer of DIY and home improvement tools and supplies. ... Da Ali G Show was the name of two related satirical TV series starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and featuring the character Ali G. The original (single season) series was made by Channel 4 in the UK, and the second (two season) series by Channel 4 in the UK... Melanie Sykes (born 7 August 1970 in Mossley, Lancashire) is an English television presenter and actress. ...

Notes

September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

External links

• Gail Porter fan-site
• IMDb page on Gail Porter
• Gail Porter profile and biography on AskMen.com
• Website for a London theatre production of 'Sweet Charity' with which Gail Porter is associated